Category: Road Test

Road Test Review

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BMW COUPE CONJURES UP COMFORT IN THE FAST LANE

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Sports cars generally fall into two camps. On the one hand, performance edge can be dulled by the desire for comfort; on the other, comfort may be sacrificed at the altar of pure power. There is, however, the odd exception to this rule: the BMW M2. Building on the success of the limited edition BMW 1 Series M coupe brought Down Under in 2011, the new BMW M2 coupe is available in two variants – M2 Pure ($89,900) and M2 ($98,900) – both featuring a 272 kW / 465 Nm… Read more

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MINI CONVERTIBLE UNCOVERS CLASSIC WORLD OF MOTORING

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Like a family of overachievers, the Mini continues to throw pups of outstanding pedigree. The latest offspring to plough a precocious furrow through the automotive paddock is the convertible. The third generation Mini convertible takes the place of the cabriolet and comes in Cooper and Cooper S specification, priced from $37,900 and $45,400, plus on-road costs, respectively. That’s $4800 less for Cooper and $5750 for Cooper S compared with the superseded cabrio. Our test vehicle came with Convenience and Multimedia Pro packages, hoicking the price to $56,030, plus on-roads. STYLING… Read more

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2017 PORSCHE 911 REVIEW

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As with all the other major European marques, Porsche has been forced into the realisation that smaller capacity engines with turbochargers are the only way to keep engines clean and legal. So the iconic German sportscar company has designed a virtually all-new 3.0-litre flat-six with twin turbochargers. Downsizing the powerplant from 3.8 to 3.0 litres hasn’t been as extreme a loss in capacity as with other German makers’ engines. Our road test Porsche 911 was the Carrera S, the more powerful of the revised models. With a recommended retail price… Read more

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CITROEN’S PRICKLY PAIR DESIGNED TO GROW ON POINT OF DIFFERENCE

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It’s hard to take seriously a car that’s named after a spiky plant that lives in desolate sun-scorched, rock-strewn deserts. There again, to exist in such a harsh and lifeless environment shows a degree of strength and the ability to adapt. Maybe this is what Citroen had in mind when it thought up the moniker ‘Cactus’ for its compact hatchback. The Citroen C4 Cactus comes in two Exclusive versions featuring extensive standard equipment and reasonable pricing – $26,990 for a turbocharged PureTech petrol manual and $29,990 for a semi-automatic diesel… Read more

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2016 AUDI A4 AVANT WAGON REVIEW

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Audi station wagons – which they call Avants – are huge in Europe and particularly in their home market of Germany. Avants are easy to spot, just drive on an autobahn at high speed, but keep out of the fast lane, pretty soon one will pass you at 200+ kmh. It will probably be black and a sales rep of some sort will be at the steering wheel in a hurry to their next appointment. Sounds like heaven? It is, but sadly not in Australia. The driving, that is. The… Read more

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PEUGEOT HOT HATCH IS OUT OF AN ICONIC SLIPSTREAM

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The iconic Peugeot 205 GTI holds a stunning place in the automotive lexicon. After a decade of stellar performance, the little French machine called the ‘best hot hatchback of all time’ ended its production run in February 1994. The French automobile maker thought it time to revisit those halcyon days and has come up with the 308 1.6THP GTi. The car is available in two specifications with two levels of tuning – the 184kW 308 GTi 250 carries a recommended retail price of $44,990, while the 200kW 308 GTi 270… Read more

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KIA PICANTO IS CUTE AS A BUTTON

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Kia Picanto is a small city car that’s loaded with standard equipment and comes in at a very attractive price of just $14,990. That’s for a five-door car with automatic transmission and is driveaway. This market segment isn’t strong in Australia at present, which is a shame as these small economy cars are really all that many people need. It’s early days yet – the little Kia Picanto has only been on sale here since April – and is now neck and neck with the previously all-conquering Mitsubishi Mirage in… Read more

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2016 KIA SPORTAGE REVIEW

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An all-new Kia Sportage arrived in Australia at the start of 2016. More stylish than previous Sportages, that tended to lean in the direction of SUV rather than trendy wagon, it’s already selling well. And sales are likely to leap now that Kia has secured number one spot in the JD Power Initial Quality Study in the USA. Sportage was ranked top vehicle in the small SUV segment. New Sportage has a longer wheelbase than the outgoing model and is 40 mm longer overall (at 4480 mm), both changes are… Read more

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2016 AUDI TTS ROADSTER REVIEW

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We’ve just spent an enjoyable week behind the wheel of an Audi TTS roadster in our home areas in south-east Queensland. Winter obviously isn’t normally the season of choice for an open car. But the TTS’s heated seats, hot air blown onto our necks and a behind-the-seat air deflector let us travel in comfort during daylight hours. STYLING Audi TTS roadster follows the same successful styling theme as the new coupe, a solid evolution of the first generation model of 1999. We reckon its sharp lines and interlocking facets make… Read more

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OPTIMA GT TURBO: GAME-CHANGER FOR KIA

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We recently reported on Kia’s success in the 2016 JD Power Initial Quality Study (IQS), the USA car industry’s benchmark for new-vehicle quality. The South Korean company was number one. While the result will have surprised many it is anything but a surprise to those of us that have been watching the steady rise of the giant Hyundai/Kia group. We’ve just spent a week in the latest version of the Kia Optima, released late last year, and quality is the word that immediately sprung to mind. This isn’t just a… Read more